The Fauquier County Probate Office oversees all probates for Fauquier County. Their experienced and knowledgeable staff of Probate Clerks, under the direction of Clerk of Circuit Court Gail Barb, administer with great efficiency the ebb and flow of probate qualifications in Fauquier County.

Probate appointments to qualify as a personal representative [executor or administrator] of an estate must be scheduled in advance.

Prior to the appointment, certain information and documents will need to be provided to the Probate Office, including:

the original will, if there is one

contact information for the person(s) requesting appointment

a certified copy of the death certificate

an estimate of the value of the assets held solely in the decedent’s name, and

the names and addresses of all legal heirs.

The Probate Office has composed a Request for Probate form that can be used to collect all of this information. With this information, the Probate Office will complete the necessary forms for you to sign during your probate appointment. In lieu of the Request for Probate Form, attorneys and estate advisors are invited to complete the Virginia Forms set out below [on Virginia Supreme Court Website] prior to requesting a probate appointment for your client:

The original will and original death certificate, and the Request for Probate form or the completed but unsigned Virginia Forms above, should be submitted to the Probate Office in advance of your probate appointment.

A Probate Clerk will call you to discuss your submission, confirm information, resolve questions they have and you may have, and schedule a date for you to come in to be qualified.

If you must be bonded with surety, you will need to make arrangements to procure that bond in advance of your probate appointment and to have the bonding agent present at your probate appointment. See the Fauquier County website [below] for information about getting bonded.

Probate appointments generally take 20-30 minutes. All the qualification paperwork is completed during the probate appointment.

The most common reasons you will not be able to complete your probate qualification during your scheduled appointment are you do not have a certified original death certificate or you are unable to be bonded with surety.

Please take note that the Sheriff’s Office now screens folks coming in for a probate appointment. No cell phones are permitted so plan accordingly.

2. Location and Contact Info

Address: 29 Ashby Street, Warrenton, VA 20186

Telephone: 540-422-8100

3.Checklists and Questionnaires

The Fauquier County Probateweb page contains an abundance of helpful information about both the qualification process and your responsibilities after you have qualified.

Information for Fiduciaries is provided by Clerk of the Fauquier County Circuit Court. This document has extensive details on your fiduciary obligations after you have been qualified in the probate office.